Rain-slick roadways in and around the Santa Clarita Valley factored into several traffic collisions Sunday, including one in which two children were taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, according to fire and law enforcement officials.

As much as they look forward to a steaming hot Thanksgiving Day meal of turkey and mashed potatoes, diners at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center enjoy meeting the young people who help serve up Thanksgiving each year.

As LARC Ranch muscles forward to raise $3 million for a permanent water supply, ranch officials reported this week that they're still parched and have spent more than $168,000 importing more than 5 million gallons of water.

The state grant announced by Castaic Lake Water Agency officials this week will help offset the sewage rate hike planned in the Santa Clarita Valley to foot the bill to reduce chloride in the Santa Clara River.

Plans to build a deep well injection site in Westridge were abandoned Monday after Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation Board members Laurene Weste and Marsha McLean announced they were siding with fellow board member Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich in moving the deep well site away from the Santa Clarita Valley's West side.

Following an extended period of psychiatric assessment, a Castaic woman accused of killing her elderly father has been found competent to stand trial on a charge of murder, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said.

Heavy sudden rain, punctuated by lightning strikes, late Sunday afternoon is suspected to have played a role in four local traffic collisions that sent two people to the hospital and in the "precautionary" landing of a helicopter nearly hit by lightning, weather and emergency response officials said.

Hazardous material crews mopped up about 75 gallons of spilled diesel fuel early Sunday morning after a big rig crashed into a concrete divider in the Newhall Pass, according to emergency response officials.

From toxic chemical disposal to touching off earthquakes, plans for a deep well injection site on the Santa Clarita Valley's West Side has touched off fears among residents of the area for the safety of their families and the security of their homes.

At least three people, including two children, were injured and taken to the hospital Wednesday following a multi-vehicle traffic collision in Newhall, according to a witness and emergency response officials.

The operational day-to-day cost of delivering water to Valencia Water Company ratepayers has prompted a proposed rate increase to be discussed at a public meeting in April, the company's general manager said Monday.